How Keating came to the rescue of a Potts Point street

Paul Keating still dreams big dreams about the state of the world - or more precisely these days, about its appearance.

The former prime minister has advised the German Government on the rebuilding of parts of Berlin and led the charge against the overdevelopment of Ballast Point in Balmain.

When in office, he intervened to cut seven storeys off the infamous "Toaster" apartment block at Circular Quay.

But now he has turned his attention to his own neighbourhood, lobbying developer Australand to redesign a building for Potts Point.

A member of the NSW Board of Architects, which licenses the profession, Mr Keating picked up on a groundswell of opposition to plans for an 18-metre high, 46-unit complex on the corner of Macleay Street and Greenknowe Avenue.");document.write("

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Mr Keating said: "There were legitimate resident concerns about this design and some of that concern made its way to me."

Under the original design, Australand would have built a standard, concrete slab-based complex, comprising mainly one-bedroom units to cater for the transient population of Kings Cross.

It was to be clad in green and grey "crazed" paving and feature art deco-style portholes for windows. Many residents criticised it as shapeless and lacking in rhythm.

"I think we'd say it was an urban and contemporary style," said Peter Dransfield, executive general manager of Australand's apartment division. "But it was clear the residents had problems with it and, like any good corporate citizen, we were prepared to listen."

Many of Australand's constructions are spare and solid in design.

But Mr Keating, who lives nearby at Elizabeth Bay, and other locals, believed the building would look too out of place in a street characterised by 1930s- and '40s-era buildings.

"The streetscape is very distinct, most of the buildings are freestanding, and it was important to preserve the character of the neighbourhood," he said.

"The Potts Point peninsula is the closest thing we have in Australia to European or New York-style living."

The area is certainly the most densely populated in Australia.

Mr Keating urged Australand to abandon a firm of Melbourne-based architects and, instead, engage Ercole Palazetti, an architect who favours the neo-classical style and who designed the Villard and the Dorchester, also in Macleay Street.

"Paul Keating is a fairly strong character and he has a feel for Potts Point," Mr Dransfield said.

"We thought the original building was quite remarkable and stood out from the streetscape, but he convinced us that the project needed to blend in instead."

The issue, however, has not entirely disappeared. Some residents believe that, at 18 metres, the building is still too tall and would deprive residents in some smaller buildings opposite of sunlight.

Palazetti's new design effectively splits the development into two buildings and ensures that most of the residents of Kingsclere and Byron Hall, which sit opposite, would

now overlook the lowest part of the building.

The development is now before the NSW Land and Environment Court for a determination on its height.

Mr Keating said he was simply exercising his rights as a resident to determine the character of his neighbourhood.

"These are civic interests at stake," he said. "Who else is going to keep some civic watch on these projects if not the locals?"